Scott Williams, a 37-year-old 911 dispatcher from Tacoma, Wash., who is visiting the District this week, said that he and his family were standing on a short wall just outside the West Front when they felt the wall beneath them move. “It sounded like an explosion,” said Kip, a decorative painter at the Capitol who was also in the basement when the quake struck. The shaking went on for about 10 or 15 seconds, he said then the alarms at the Capitol went off and the building was evacuated. “There was a lot of noise and shaking - the floor, the walls, everything was moving,” said Robert Hawe, 54, who works in the electrical division at the Capitol and was in the basement when the quake happened. Outside the West Front of the Capitol, about 60 Capitol workers and tourists were gathered just after the building was evacuated. Several blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue SE were temporarily closed to traffic Tuesday afternoon in the wake of the earthquake.
PRO FORMA SESSION PRO
As in most pro forma sessions, there was no prayer and no pledge of allegiance, according to the pool report. The session took place in a conference room in the basement of the Postal Square building next to Union Station, with 50 or 60 Capitol Police officers, Senate floor staffers and others present in the improvised chamber. and lasted 22 seconds, according to a pool report of the session by Roll Call’s Jessica Brady. Both chambers have been holding such sessions throughout the August break, a move that effectively blocks President Obama from making any recess appointments while Congress is out of town.Ĭoons gaveled the Senate into a pro forma session that began just after 3:30 p.m. Chris Coons (D-Del.), who had been scheduled to preside over a brief “pro forma” Senate session, during which no legislative business is conducted. One member who was present, however, was Sen. Most members of Congress were back in their home districts for the August recess and were not present at the Capitol.
”It is anticipated that tomorrow will be a regular business day,” she added. “Building inspectors are continuing to work and your cooperation is requested to limit time in the building to an absolute minimum.” “Persons with offices in the Capitol Building will be permitted entry to retrieve personal items and to secure their workspaces,” Schneider said in the memo. remained closed as of early evening, although the Capitol building itself had been inspected by the Architect of the Capitol’s office and was “ready for re-entry,” Schneider said. Several of the buildings of the Capitol complex - which had been evacuated shortly after 2 p.m. Capitol Police, said in a memo to Hill offices late Tuesday afternoon that no serious earthquake-related injuries had been reported. Kimberly Schneider, a spokeswoman for the U.S.
The earthquake that shook Washington Tuesday afternoon forced Capitol Hill staffers and other workers out of their offices and onto the streets – and led the Senate to conduct a rare session off the Capitol grounds.
Tourists and workers gather outside the West Front of the Capitol following Tuesday’s earthquake.
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